According to new projections of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the inflation will continue to be a focus of attention in the main Latin American countries.
The Iworld inflation It would moderate from 5.7% to 3.9% in 2024, however the possible escalation of geopolitical conflicts that could generate new increases in prices.
By 2024, DESA projects that a quarter of the countries in development register more than 10% inflation. “The inflationary trend in developing countries has also aggravated poverty, reversing some of the hard-won gains in reducing”says the report.
LATAM inflation: what are the causes of the persistent rise in prices
Partly as a result of these cost-of-living shocks and other factors, in 2023 some 238 million people suffered high levels of acute food insecuritywhich meant an increase of 21.6 million compared to the previous year.
In it case of Latin America and the CaribbeanDESA estimates point to inflation going from the projected 6.8% in 2023 to 4.3% in 2024. By 2025, the consumer price index could vary by 3.5%.
Inflation projections are conditional on a series of factors such as climate-related crises and the El Niño phenomenon, which according to DESA not only could disrupt economic activity, but also trigger new inflationary pressures.
In South America, inflation would be 4.2% this year (in 2023 it was 5.8%); in the Caribbean at 4.4% (in 2023 it was 8.1%) and in Mexico and Central America at 4.7% (in 2023 it was 8.5%).
Which are the countries with the highest inflation in LATAM?
Although the consumer price index moderated in Latin America and the Caribbean, “a few economies continued to experience chronically high inflation amid macroeconomic imbalances and depreciation of national currencies”.
In the region, Argentina (139.4%) and Venezuela (115%) dispute the place of the highest inflation for 2024.
Although in both cases the increase in the cost of living would moderate in 2025, with Argentina with 44.9% and Venezuela with 85%, They are still very far from the regional average.
Other territories with double-digit inflation in the region would be Cuba (16%), Haiti (12.5%) and Suriname (12.4%).
Within the largest economies in Latin America and the Caribbean, except for Argentina and Venezuela, the countries with the highest inflation in 2024 projections are:
- Uruguay: 5.5%
- Bolivia: 5%
- Dominican Republic: 4.7%
- Colombia: 4.9%
- Nicaragua: 4.8%
- Honduras: 4.5%
- Guatemala: 4.4%
- Brazil: 4.2%
- Mexico, Peru and Paraguay: all with 4%
- Chili: 3.3%
- The Savior: 3%
- Ecuador: 23%
- Panama: 2.2%
- Costa Rica: 2%
Source: Ambito
